J&J report impressive Q3 earnings

Pharma has seen better financial days, but Johnson & Johnson stood out among the crowd yesterday when it posted its third quarter earnings and sales--making the company look (almost) economic crisis-proof. Earnings were up from 88 cents per share in the previous year to $1.17 per share and sales were up 6.4 percent from last year, at $15.9 billion, in the third quarter.

However, while J&J's net income and revenue increased, 3.1 percent of the revenue jump was due to "the positive impact of currency," which means that fluctuations in the dollar--such as a recovery of its value--could more seriously affect J&J's bottom line. Currently, J&J's impressive numbers rely much more on international sales than on U.S. sales.

The Motley Fool is monitoring the company, paying particular attention to sales of pharma sellers Risperdal, Duragesic, Procrit (all falling in sales) and Topamax, which enjoyed a decent increase in sales.   

The earnings report beat analyst expectations, which topped out at $1.11 per share. The reports excluded special charges and the net earnings for the quarter were up 7.6 percent. Consumer OTC products [1] carried the most weight in the positive pattern, including products obtained in the Pfizer consumer products acquisition. Perhaps Pfizer should have held onto its hat for a bit longer.

- read the story [2] at the New York Times 
- see more [3] at BNet
- here's the Wall Street Journal's take [4]

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